


A Question of Trust

by d0g-bless (d0gbless)



Series: A New Breed of Training [21]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Discussion of Abortion, Family, Implied/Referenced Abortion, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kid Fic, M/M, Minor Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Minor Pidge | Katie Holt/Shiro, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 12:33:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20657321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d0gbless/pseuds/d0g-bless
Summary: For years, the team thought for sure that Lance McClain would have a prolific number of children, practically enough to rival the stars in the sky. And yet, Lance and Keith have the smallest family out of all the Paladins. The couple lives on a ranch with spare rooms galore. Their income is steady and provides them with extra cash at the end of each month. They've been living together for quite some time.Now, if any, might be one of the best possible times to start a family. A good time, even.“Hey, Keith?”Keith looks up from waxing his hovercycle’s lights, the same one that carried the team out here in the first place. “Um, yeah?”"I want to start a family.”Or;In which Keith and Lance adopt.





	A Question of Trust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brokensealari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokensealari/gifts).

> I wrote this for my fantastic friend BrokenSealAri as a gift about two years ago, and I decided that today was the day to revise a few details and share it with the rest of the world.
> 
> I can only hope you guys love these new characters as much as she does — as well as meeting Sammy Shirogane-Holt as a six-year-old.
> 
> There will be fics added prior to the events of this one; I just wanted to get something out and published today. Enjoy!

Lance takes a deep breath. This is it. He closes his eyes. This is his best chance. With a flick of his wrist, he lets the die fly. He hears it rattle on the board. “Keith, what did I roll? I can’t bear to look.”

“Three.” Keith almost sounds apologetic. Almost. “Sorry, Lance, you’re going down the chute.”

Defeated, Lance flops down on the floor and sneezes. “When was the last time we dusted around here?”

“Hey, sit up. Game’s not over yet.” Keith presses the die into his six-year-old niece’s hand. “Niece” is a technicality, as neither he nor Lance are biologically related to Sammy Shirogane-Holt, but she is still part of their family. “Your turn, Sammy.”

Her golden eyes steel with determination. She rolls the die and squints. “Six?”

Lance ruffles Sammy’s thick black hair. “Yeah, it’s a six. Good eyes, kiddo! You beat me and Keith at Chutes and Ladders again! I think it’s time for a celebration, what do you think, Sammy? Sammy? Hey, earth to Sammy!”

Sammy blinks owlishly. “What? Sorry, I was thinking.”

“What about?” Lance asks.

“How come you guys don’t have any kids?”

Keith makes a choking sound.

“Well,” Lance says, smacking Keith on the back. “That is a good question. But I don’t think that either of us are, uh, qualified to answer that question. That’d be a good one to ask your mom or dad.”

Seemingly satisfied with Lance’s answer, Sammy nods. “Okay. Can we go see Kaltenecker now? And can I give her a snack?”

“Absolutely,” Keith says. “And I’ll bet by the time we get back here, your mom will be here.”

Sammy groans. “No, I wanna stay here!”

“No can do, little lady,” Lance replies. “It’s a school night. Don’t you want to go to school tomorrow and see your friends?”

She shakes her head. “No. I have all my friends here. Uncle Lance and Keith, Kaltenecker, and Halley.”

“Halley is at your home, remember?” Keith says. “You’ll get to see her when you go home. In fact, I’ll bet your mom probably has her in the car.”

That gets a smile out of Sammy. “Okay. But can Halley and I stay here? We can have a sleepover.”

Keith sighs. “We’ll talk to your parents and see.”

* * *

Sure enough, Halley's in the car when Pidge finally stops by to pick up Sammy. “Vet said she’s starting to have some arthritis,” Pidge reassures Keith. “Nothing to worry about. It’s fairly normal for older dogs.”

Lance frowns. “She’s old? My sister’s Chihuahua lived until he was 16. Halley’s nowhere near that old.”

“Well, that’s standard for smaller dogs. Great Pyrenees average 10 to 12 years. Bigger dogs don’t last as long. Dogs are the opposite of most animals. Usually, the bigger an animal is, the longer it lives.”

Halley’s stiff, aching joints don't stop her from greeting her favorite person in the world. She barks with joy to greet Sammy, who hugs the dog tightly and buries herself in Halley’s fur once she's buckled up in the backseat. “Were you good for the vet?” Sammy asks.

Halley licks Sammy’s cheek and wags her tail.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Pidge joins her daughter in the vehicle and rolls down the window. “Thanks for watching her again on such short notice,” she says. “I owe you guys one.” She glances back at Sammy, who appears to be distracted by Halley’s kisses. “Things have been tough.” Pidge lowers her wavering voice. “Shiro and I… we had to make a really difficult decision today. The doctors said there are some serious complications.” Almost instinctively, Pidge presses a hand against her stomach. “I might need you guys to hang out with Sammy next weekend.”

“Oh, Pidge. I’m so sorry,” Keith murmurs. “Does Sammy…?”

Pidge shakes her head. “Shiro and I kept quiet about it. We didn’t want to make any big announcements until we were in the clear.”

“Well, on the bright side, Sammy did ask for a sleepover for this next weekend, so I’m sure she’ll have a blast. And don’t worry about it being a short notice. She’s always great for us,” Lance flicks his wrist. “Keith and I love having her over here, and she’s always welcome.”

“Thank you. Both of you. I don’t know if I would get through this if it weren’t for all of you guys.”

“We’re family, Pidge. That’s what we’re here for: supporting you.”

“Keith’s right,” Lance adds. “We know you’d do the same for us.” _ If we had kids. _ Lance can't bring himself to finish that sentence. Pidge probably isn't in a good place to talk about that right now.

Still, a sense of longing rises in Lance’s chest as he watches the car shrink into the horizon as it drives away.

* * *

It was funny, in a way, how Lance comes from the largest family, and yet he and Keith have the smallest one out of all the Paladins.

For years, everyone on the team thought for sure that Lance McClain was going to have a prolific number of children, practically enough to rival the number of stars in the sky.

Abrahamic reference aside, they all ended up being wrong. Sure, it helps that the others had a biological advantage — wait. Is Balmeran reproduction even biological? Praying to the planet-animal thing for children after being mated or unionated or whatever to end up with eggs on a doorstep? Is that biological? Eh, the jury's still out on that one.

Hunk and Shay have the biggest family, with four hatchlings — who aren't really hatchlings anymore but simply young Balmerans — and by some miracle, even Pidge, of all people, is a parent and is somehow married to Shiro!

_ “How come you guys don’t have any kids?” _

Sammy’s question echoes in his head, following him just as Halley follows Sammy.

Lance fiddles with his wedding band, a simple silver ring forged from the core of the planet Kha’jreh. He's worn it for nearly four years, which is why Lance tends to forget its presence on his finger. And somehow, he’s also forgotten about his desire to have a family. Maybe, just maybe, it's time for him and Keith to put a start to their own.

Then again, Lance’s parents believed there was never a good time to have a child. Lance always figured that was just their excuse for having as many children as they did. But in a way, they were probably right. Life has a funny way of bringing a child into the world at the worst possible time: In the middle of finishing a bachelor’s or master’s degree, when finances are tight, finding a positive pregnancy test after unpacking the last box in a three-bedroom home only to move out to somewhere bigger _ again _…

In comparison, Lance and Keith live on a ranch with spare rooms galore. Their income is steady and provides them with extra cash at the end of each month. They’ve been living together for quite some time.

Now, if any, might be one of the best possible times to start a family. A good time, even.

“Hey, Keith?”

Keith looks up from waxing his hovercycle’s lights, the same one that carried the team out here in the first place. “Um, yeah?”

“I don’t want to entirely credit Sammy with this because this is something I’ve sort of thought about here and there for the past couple years.” Lance feels his cheeks grow hotter with each word. “I want to start a family.”

Keith freezes, an almost literal deer in the headlights with the aircraft lights putting him in the spotlight.

Lance runs a hand through his hair. “You know what, I maybe shouldn’t have asked. I mean, a family? Who wants that, right?” He forces a laugh. “Don’t worry about it, just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“No.” Keith snaps out of his trance-like state. “It’s not that I don’t want a family. I just, I just never really thought about it. Or ever had one.” His father died when he was around Sammy’s age, and Krolia left him not too long after he’d been born.

“What are you talking about?” Lance sits down next to Keith and takes his gloved hand into his own. “My family loves you. And what about Pidge and Shiro and Sammy? Hunk and Shay and their kids? And Allura and Coran? You’ve had a family for years.” Lance musses his husband’s hair, earning him a half-irritated, half-amused glare from Keith.

“I know that. It’s just… I was thrown around the foster care system until the Garrison took me in, and even then, they still didn’t want me. I’d be a terrible parent.”

“I call bullshit. Sammy adores you. If she didn’t like you, she wouldn’t have asked for a sleepover.”

“It’s different. She’s practically my niece. That’s different than her being my own kid. I mean, at least with her parents, she isn’t going to turn out a monster.”

“A monster?” Lance repeats the word slowly.

Keith shrugs. “I always got into fights in foster homes. The foster parents always looked at me like they were scared of me. And you know, I guess it makes sense since I’m half-Galra.”

“Cheese and crackers, Keith!” Lance exclaims.“I thought you were over this half-Galra thing by now. Just because you’re half-Galra doesn’t make you any more violent or cruel than anyone else. I mean, think about Kolivan and the Blades! You know those guys better than anyone else, and I don’t think you’d call Kolivan a monster.”

“No, but—”

“_ Tsk-tsk _.” Lance waggles his index finger at Keith. “Don’t wanna hear it. Besides, what if this was, like, your chance to change a kid’s life?”

At this, Keith’s eyes widen. What he would’ve given, all those years ago, to have a family that loved him and cared for him as if they were his own flesh and blood. Lance is right. This is an opportunity to make right what went wrong all those years ago. “You know, speaking of the Blades, they run an orphanage. There were a lot of children who were displaced by the war.”

Lance squeals and embraces his husband. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Just think about it, you, me, and an alien baby! Perfect!”

“Slow down, Lance,” Keith says with a chuckle. “First of all, I didn’t say yes. Besides, I was thinking that maybe it’d be nice to adopt an older child. They’re always the hardest to find homes for, speaking from personal experience.”

“But babies are so cute! And you get a clean slate with them.”

“I guess we’ll see soon enough.” Keith nudges his way out of Lance’s hug and rubs his arm. “I’ll contact Mom, Kolivan, and Allura so we’ll have a way up there.”

* * *

The Blade of Marmora orphanage is hidden away in a deep pocket of space, similar to how Ulaz twisted time and space into an unseen base all those years ago.

The contents of said pocket contains a fairly small planet that looked like Earth’s moon: Dull, dusty, gray, and pockmarked with craters. The gravity, however, is closer to Earth’s and thankfully is able to keep the strange mix of small alien children grounded.

“Too little gravity, and the children would be jumping and fleeing this place,” Kolivan explains. “Before I let you two roam the grounds, I will allow Ihka —” Kolivan gestures to another Blade, who dips her head as a sign of respect to the Paladins. “ — to give you some of the history of this place.”

“Thank you.” Ihka bows again. “As I am sure you two are aware and may have noticed by now, this place is mainly a sanctuary for those whose parents were killed in the war. Those make up the majority. However, we also have many who were the result of romances between Galra and other races. Sadly, the Galra have not always been kind to those who are less than full-blooded Galra.” She fixes her gaze on Keith as she speaks. “Others yet come from Blades who had flings on missions elsewhere. This also happens to be a place where the Blade picks up the vast majority of its recruits once they are old enough.”

Lance’s jaw drops. “That’s terrible!”

“Is it?” Ihka inquires. “Most never find homes. The Blade of Marmora gives many an option that’s better than starving or homelessness.”

“To be fair, that’s more or less why I joined the Garrison,” Keith adds. “I was at least given good food and a safe place to sleep and an education.”

“That still doesn’t make it right, sending out children into battle.” Lance shakes his head in disbelief. “Creating child soldiers out of an orphanage.”

Keith rests a comforting hand on Lance’s shoulder. “At least there haven’t been any battles to fight. Not in a long time.”

“Are you two prepared to meet the children?”

Lance puffs out his chest and rumbles an octave lower than usual, “Give me knowledge or death.”

Both Ihka and Keith give Lance the stink eye. Then Ihka points to a rocky outcropping. “You shall find them playing betwixt those cliffs at this hour. Should you find a child to your liking, I will be here to help make arrangements.”

Keith and Lance give Ihka their thanks, then head toward the canyon, arms linked.

* * *

Waves of young children — mainly toddlers — descend upon Lance in an instant. Many of them gasp, wide-eyed in awe and wonder of the Blue Paladin, who is to take one of them home!

Lance laughs along with the throngs of children, some Galra, some not, as they pull him down to their level, demanding answers for their questions as well as some playtime.

And yet, Keith walks on by, parting the sea of kids. “Keith, you’re missing out on all the fun!” Lance hollers. “Keith!”

Keith turns around and smiles, then continues to walk ahead. There are far too many kids for him to handle at once. Besides, Lance clearly loves basking in the attention and goofing off with them, so he decides to let his husband do just that.

Keith finds himself wandering to a familiar place. Though he hasn't been here before, in a way, he also had, years ago, huddled up in the back of play areas, avoiding too much attention from the judgmental eye of potential parents who he knew wouldn’t want him. They never did. He stared at the ground in deep, deep denial and kept to himself, telling himself that surely, his father would come back for him, just like he always promised after every fire he put out.

He never did.

The cry of an infant followed by a frightened gasp pulls Keith back to the present. “Shut up, Keid, you’ll give us away!” The baby’s sobs — Keid? — only grows louder as the owner of the voice shushes the baby.

Keith creeps to where the sounds came from: A small cavern carved into the side of one cliff. Keith ducks to avoid hitting his head as he enters its gaping mouth.

A scrappy young alien who certainly has Galra blood flowing through her veins is huddled away, cradling an upset baby — also Galra — in her arms. The older one certainly looks more Galra than Keith ever did: Yellow eyes, furry and purple with bat-like ears, which are covered up with some of the most beautiful hair Keith has ever seen. It's almost the same as Allura’s unmanageable silver mane, but it somehow seems to change colors in the light. The word “iridescent” best describes the dazzling effect. Keid, on the other hand, lacks the older child’s stunning iridescent hair. The resemblance between the two otherwise is uncanny.

Keith waves awkwardly. “Hello, I’m Keith.”

“I know who you are. Stay away from me and my brother!” The young female jerks away, cradling her brother closer to her chest. “I know that you want a baby ‘cause everyone does, but you can’t have Keid!”

“That’s okay,” Keith replies. “I wasn’t really looking for a baby.”

“Well, go look for someone else because you can’t have me, either. I won’t let anyone tear us apart. We’re a family. Family sticks together no matter what.”

That Keith understands, too. It was why he yelled at Pidge when she was about to jump ship from Voltron, why he was so upset with Krolia for leaving him, why he still keeps in touch with his friends and teammates now. “Do you have a name?”

Though she seems taken aback at his question, she answers it. “Veera.”

Veera and Keid. Keid and Veera. Keid and Veera and Keith and Lance. _ Lance. _ “One tick, Veera.” Keith pops his head out from the cavern and waves his arm, signaling for Lance to come over there.

“Excuse me, kiddos. Gotta talk with my hubby.” Lance wonders what it has Keith looking so soft and gentle.

A chorus of groans echoes throughout the canyon but are replaced with excited shouts when Ihka announces that it's time for dinner.

Veera peeks out from the cavern’s mouth, to make sure the coast was clear, free of any of the other orphans or caretakers. She squeaks at the sight of Lance towering over her and scurries back into the cavern.

“It’s okay,” Keith says, his voice barely above a whisper. “This is my husband, Lance. And Lance, this is Veera.”

“Hi, Veera. What are you doing all the way out here?”

Keid answers Lance’s question with a hiccup. Lance makes a sound that's caught between a high-pitched squeal and gasp. “Oh my goodness, isn’t that the cutest little thing you’ve ever seen?” He reached out. “May I hold him?”

Veera glares at Lance and pulls her brother closer to her chest. Without another word, she storms past the Red and Blue Paladins, off to the dining hall.

Once she's out of earshot, Keith gives Lance a pleading look.

“Keith, don’t. You know I can’t say no to those purple puppy-dog eyes. And why her? She was nothing but rude to me.”

Keith shakes his head. “No, she’s scared. She doesn’t want to be separated from her baby brother, Keid. She was hiding out here so we wouldn’t adopt him.”

“So you’re telling me you want to adopt Veera?”

“No. I want both of them.”

“I wouldn’t mind just adopting Keid.” Lance hesitates for a moment. “But Veera seems like trouble.”

“She’ll be my problem, then. Just give her a chance. I just… she’s a lot like how I used to be. I can’t imagine many others out here would want to take in both of these kids, especially with Veera being one of the oldest here and her attitude.”

Lance smiles at that. “I can’t exactly say no to that. Or Keid.”

* * *

Ihka stares at the Paladins with cow eyes. “You are serious? You want Veera? I could understand Keid, but Veera, out of all these children?”

Keith and Lance sits across from Ihka in her quarters. The only object between them is a desk.

Keith clenches his jaw and snaps up, getting close and personal to Ihka’s face. “I am dead serious.” He speaks each word slowly and coolly, sending chills down Lance’s spine.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Lance pulls Keith away from Ihka. “I know you’re attached to Veera, but maybe we should hear Ihka out? Get a full picture of what we’re dealing with.”

Looking like quite the child himself, Keith collapses back into his chair, folded arms and lower lip jutting in a pout. “Fine.”

“Keid and Veera’s father was a Blade, and a fine agent at that. He did what he was supposed to do. Except he fell in love with a slave of indeterminate origin on Zarkon’s ship, and for her, he risked everything. Upon realizing that she was with child, the former Blade ran away from his duties and off with her, promising to care for her and be with her for as long as he could. Soon enough, Veera was born, but not without a price, as the birth was too much for her mother, who lived long enough to be with Veera for a few days before she died.

“Her father couldn’t return to the Blade of Marmora with an infant to care for. He stuck around to raise her, and eventually found a new mate, who, like Veera’s father, was Galra and a former Blade. From my understanding, she was at first kind to Veera and treated her like her own child. This came to an end once Veera’s father returned to the Blade of Marmora, only to meet his end when he was reassigned to a fleet that Voltron took out.”

Lance and Keith's stomachs churn. They're the ones responsible for his death, and in part, the reason why Veera and Keid wound up in this orphanage in the first place.

“His mate, pregnant and mourning, took it out on Veera. We believe she endured beatings and abuse for months, which came to an end once Keid was born.

“The Blade of Marmora received a distress beacon from her home, only to find her hanging from the rafters, leaving behind a bruised and battered child who clung to an infant who also had some bruises, but nothing to the degree Veera had. It seemed as though she’d been protecting her half-brother from the wrath of his mother.

“And now, Veera is here and understandably untrusting of most people. Knowing her background, do you still wish to adopt her?”

“Yes!” Keith and Lance exclaim in unison. Keith clears his throat. “I might not have been abused that badly as a child, but I know that she’ll be hard to adopt from my own experiences. I want Keid, but I _ especially _ want Veera.”

Lance wipes a tear trailing down his face. “Honestly, hearing all of that just makes me want to ensure these kids have a good home, and we’ll give it to them.”

Ihka sighs. Her attempt to dissuade is clearly a failure as it instead persuaded them. “Very well.” She slides a tablet over to Lance and Keith. “Sign on these points. I will tell Veera to gather her things and her brother.”

* * *

These two humans wanted to adopt both her _ and _ Keid? Veera can scarcely believe it. This is too good to be true.

That’s exactly what this is: Too good to be true. They aren't going to keep her around for long. And even if they did, they’d hate her and kick her out at some point.

Veera stuffs the last of her and Keid’s things into a knapsack. They don't have much except for one another, and that's fine by her. For now, she decides to hang on to the ragged clothes they had.

Her ears flattens against the back of her head as someone pounds on the door. “Can we come in?” It's Lance. “We just want to help you carry your things out.”

She looks over to Keid, who's napping on her bed. If Lance and Keith carry her knapsack out, she can still hold Keid. “Coming!” She goes over to open the door, then scurries back over to pick up Keid. “I just have a knapsack,” she says.

Lance frowns at the sight of the ratty old bag. “We’ll have to get you guys some new clothes and things. Don’t worry, you can still keep the old stuff if you like.”

Veera narrows her eyes. Lance is up to something, she's sure of it.

“Are you ready to go yet?” Keith asks. “Allura’s getting a bit impatient. You know how she gets about holding open wormholes for too long.”

Veera cocks her head to the side, looking almost like an adorable puppy. “A wormhole? Where are we going?”

Keith gives her a gentle answer in one word: “Home.”

* * *

The place Keith and Lance calls “home” is also known as “The Ranch.” It's a huge area of land, with orange and yellow dust called “sand,” as well as tiny green shoots called “grass.”

Veera likes how the grass felt between her paws. It tickles and feels nice and cool — the opposite of the sand.

Keith takes Veera and Keid aside and gives them a tour of the house. To be more accurate, he really gives Veera a tour, as Keid is still out cold, drooling on his sister’s shoulder. He shows her the kitchen, his office, all the bathrooms, and then something she’s never had before.

“Veera, this is your very own bedroom. I know it’s boring looking right now, but once we get to know one another better, I thought maybe we could make it more for you.”

“What about Keid?” she blurts out. “He’s too little to have his own room!”

Keith chuckles. “That’s why he’ll sleep next to me and Lance at night.”

“No!” Veera shakes her head, jolting Keid out of his nap. “No, he has to stay with me.”

Nodding, Keith purses his lips. “Okay, then, he’ll stay with you.”

Her eyes widen. “Really?”

“On one condition. You’ll have to let us take care of him, too.”

Veera scowls. That was clever, too clever. How dare he trick her like that? Oh, Keith would pay for that, the manipulative jerk!

“Veera, it’ll be good for you and for us. At your age, you should be going out and making friends, not caring for your baby brother all the time.”

“Fine,” Veera growls. “But I won’t like it!”

* * *

Quiznak! She's starting to like it.

She refuses to admit that it's sort of nice to not be responsible for feeding and cleaning up Keid. And even the new clothes Lance made for her were very soft and comfortable.

But the making friends part is hard. As it turns out, most humans on Earth are not accustomed to seeing people like her. She was pretty sure most of them are scared of her or even hate her. She's seen the looks some of them make at her, and they are not friendly.

“Hey, Veera, I’ll need you to clean your room,” Lance says as he leans against the door frame. “We have a guest coming over this weekend.”

“Who is it?”

“Her name is Sammy. She’s the daughter of some of our best friends. Keith and I promised she could sleep over last week, and we’d forgotten about it.”

Veera reminds herself to save that information about Keith, Lance, and promises somewhere in her brain. That they're capable of making a promise and forgetting it but are still willing to be held accountable for it. Very useful information. “Okay, Lance. I’ll clean up.”

Lance grins. “Thank you very much, Veera.”

* * *

“So, Sammy, remember when you asked me and Keith why we didn’t have kids?”

Sammy doesn't catch all that Lance told her, but she nods anyways. Nodding is a way to let people know she was listening, even if she doesn't hear all the words quite right.

“Well, we actually have a couple of kids now. A baby and a girl who’s about your age.”

“What?”

Lance laughs. “I know, it’s pretty exciting.”

Exciting? What was exciting? Sammy keeps walking, then stumbles into something — no, someone. “I-I’m so sorry.”

Veera forms a fist with her hand, ready to attack... but then, she notices that there is something off about the girl before her. She can't see right or something. She acts like seeing a Galra was normal and is being nice to her!

“It’s fine,” Veera says, slipping her fist behind her back, just in case Sammy did see that. “I’m Veera.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Veera!” Sammy beams at her new acquaintance. “Uncle Lance, can I go visit Kaltenecker with Veera?”

“I don’t know if that’s —”

Sammy grabs Veera’s hand and makes a break for it. “Come on, Veera, it’ll be fun!”

* * *

“So this is a cow?” Veera gestures toward Kaltenecker. “She’s a pretty weird looking beast.”

Sammy giggles. “Yeah! You sound like you’ve never seen one before.”

“I haven’t.”

“Well, now you have!” Sammy collapses down into the grass. Veera, though reluctant, joins her. “You’re so lucky to have Uncle Lance and Uncle Keith for your dads.”

Veera says nothing.

“They’re fun and they really care about me. I mean, so do my parents, but it’s different with them sometimes. Uncle Lance and Keith are easier to talk to sometimes. They’re silly and happy and never worry about anything! But my mom and dad… I know they’re sad about something. I don’t know what it is, and they’re pretending they’re happy. I wish they’d be honest with me.”

“Maybe they’re pretending to be happy because they love you?” Veera offers. “They don’t want you to worry about them, just like how you don’t tell them you can’t see or hear right.”

Sammy goes quiet. “Veera, promise me you won’t tell anyone about that.” She offers her pinkie finger out to Veera.

“What’s that?”

“A pinkie promise! You wrap your tiniest finger around my tiniest finger. It’s a way friends make promises.”

Veera considers it for a moment. A friend. She has a friend! And truth be told, she really does like Sammy. She's smart and sweet and thoughtful. “Okay.” Veera wraps her pinkie around her newfound friend’s pinkie. “I pinkie promise.”

In that moment, with her finger interlocked with Sammy’s sweaty little finger, Veera promises that she will be Sammy’s best friend forever. She promises that she’ll be a good daughter to Lance and Keith, and maybe, just maybe, one day, she’ll call them her dads. She promises to take good care of her baby brother forever and ever.

She does not, however, promise to keep Sammy’s sight and hearing a secret. For the time being, she will. But if Sammy’s problems ever make Sammy’s life hard or put her in danger, she'll tell Keith and Lance.

After all, if Sammy trusts them, then maybe she can, too.


End file.
